black bars on HD films, annoying

[Kage]

I've watched a few Blu-Ray films since getting the PS3 and TV.

Some annoy me though, and I'll tell you why.

Why the heck on widescreen TV's, do they still set the aspect ratio on them in such a way that you still get borders?

I've only watched 1 blu-ray film that actually works at full 16:9 my TV supports, without black bars on the top and bottom, and that was the original Spiderman Blu-Ray film in this set my mate bought. The other 2 in the set have borders, which made the first film appear to have a better quality image than the latest offerings.

This shouldn't happen with a widescreen TV, since its meant to be wiiiddeeee and so show right. It was fine when I had a 4:3 TV, but now I have a 16:9 I expected all films to appear full screen.

Looking at the back, ones that show 2:35:1 and 2:40:1 appear with black bars, and most HD-DVD's I've seen show at 2:35:1.

Why have they decided to do this?

 

[borat_sagdiyev]

well movies that are on dvd, that are sold as widescreen format have different aspect ratios. do u only see black bars at the top and bottom or do u also see them at the side? and whats so bothersome about the bars?

 

[Kage]

Well, its a widescreen TV, so why should we have bars on the top and bottom? Its just troublesome, and makes the TV look smaller than it should be.

 

[borat_sagdiyev]

well the bars are there because the movie is filmed in even a smaller aspect ratio. the widescreen dvd's have the aspect ratio preserved so it will be just like in the theatres

 

[Kage]

...Thats pretty naff then, haha. Whats the point of a widescreen TV for use with films, etc if you can't watch it in full? Your missing a good portion of the screen.

Doesn't help, that with a plasma screen like I have, black bars are not the greatest thing to keep still for long periods.

 

[spywarebanisher]

i dont mind blk bars. think it looks more rpofessional

 

[borat_sagdiyev]

nahh the new generation plasmas that they have now dont really burn in lol

 

[borat_sagdiyev]

i dont mind blk bars. think it looks more rpofessional

yea, i like movies with black bars, but i dont like watching HD tv shows like csi miami with black bars on my HDTV

 

[BrynF_UK]

my guess is that its soemthing to do with the equipment they use to record the film/show uses the 4:3 ratio so they dont strech the picture they keep it in the 4:3 ratio

 

[Kage]

Yeah, haha, I don't know either.

I mean. I wouldn't mind, but the bars are rather large.

Its also weird how each film seems to have a different aspect ratio :S

I have found a feature on my TV to zoom a picture to full size, to eliminate black bars, but I also miss some of the sides.